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Playing Craps at the Bellagio in Las Vegas

You won’t find a nicer casino and resort this side of Monte Carlo than the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The casino, directly across East Flamingo Street from Caesars Palace, is heads and shoulders above the very nice casino at Caesars. The water-show of fountains along the Strip is worth the visit itself, but walking the water’s edge on your way to the resort is even better. This is most easily accomplished if you are past the resort and coming from the Cosmo.

The Bellagio is right off US-15, and parking is rarely a problem whether you use self-park or valet and there is no charge for either, unless you tip valet. Inside the resort you will find plenty of free attractions like the amazing display of flowers at the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, and the Fiori Di Como, which includes 2,000 hand-blown glass blossoms. The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art does charge for entrance, but the paintings are amazing, and always worth the cost.

Restaurants at the Bellagio are too numerous to list, but no matter your desires, there is a spot with just the right bill of fare. Keep in mind that as with any first-class resort, the best meals in the best restaurants are priced accordingly. It’s easy to spend $100 per person without wine. Certainly you can spend less, but even a quick bite outside the poker room will run you $20 for a sandwich, chips, and a soda. Keep in mind that even the spa is huge, 65,000 square feet, larger than the gaming space at most casinos. This really is a luxury resort.

The hotel boasts 3,421 rooms and 512 suites, but rates are quite reasonable. You can often find a room for $159, and shouldn’t have to spend more than $299 on most weekends. Try that for something comparable in New York or San Francisco! Remember that the Bellagio does charge a $25 per night resort fee on top of the room charge, plus tax.

As for the casino, the 116,000 square feet of gaming space houses a race and sports book, 40-table poker room, and every imaginable slot machine or table game you could want, at reasonable prices for the Las Vegas Strip.

What to Expect at the Craps Tables

The Bellagio casino offers 12 craps tables, all of which will be in action most nights. During the day you may find some $10 minimum bet games, but as the evening rolls around there are more $15 and $25 tables. Upper limits are usually set at $5,000 but the resort is always ready to accommodate their high-rollers. Las Vegas has a tradition of fast craps games run by excellent dealers, so you’ll get what you expect. However, the dealers aren’t necessarily any “better” or “fancier” than next door at Caesars, or down the Strip at the Wynn.

The boxmen are attentive, ready to made quick (and proper) decisions, but are often involved with marker action (issuing and handling re-buys). They will also allow some reasonable dice-setting by those who practice dice-control before asking the shooter to “please shoot the dice.”

The boxmen are less tolerant of “call-bets” on the games, which is understandable when a few players are tossing in $25,000 chips to book action, so try to get your bets in before the dice go to the shooter.

The Stickman

The Stickman position at the Bellagio can be one of the most frantic and demanding dealer spots in any casino in the world. As those proposition bets come in fast and heavy it’s the Stickman’s job to make sure he knows exactly what bet is being booked and for which player. It’s not uncommon for there to be ten or fifteen bets up on a single roll. Get your bets in early or they won’t get booked.

Not every property on the Strip has the same odds on their craps games anymore. At the Bellagio, four bets are better than many other casinos: the prop bets on 2, 3, 11, and 12. Bets on 3 and 11 pay 15 to 1, not 15 for 1 (14 to 1) like other properties. Bets on 2 and 12 are also better, paying 30 to 1, not 30 for 1 (29 to 1).

Inside Dealers

The inside dealers are very good at the Bellagio. Smooth and accurate is the optimal word here, not frantic or hurried. They will take care of making change, taking your marker requests, booking your place or buy bets, and handling the line, come, and field wagers. There are no Big 6/8 bets on the Bellagio layouts. If you want to bet six or eight, place them.

You will most likely find $15 minimum limit games with 3-4-5 odds offered at the Bellagio. On 6 and 8 you can take odds of 5x your line bet. On the 5 and 9 you can take odds of 4x your line bet. On a point of 4 or 10 you my take odds of 3x your line bet.

The Players

Although the Las Vegas strip offers some of the best dice action in the world, the players at the Bellagio are an interesting mix of hard-core players and happy visitors. There are also regulars on the games each day, so there is some familiarity and cordial interaction between the players and the dealers, but not so much that it slows down the game.

Although common sense and etiquette at the game are important, you won’t find the sometimes fanatical stubbornness or reactions by players seen in Detroit or Atlantic City. What you’ll find mostly is players who enjoy the game, but have the means to accept even a long series of choppy dice waiting for the tide to turn. Make sure you aren’t the one doing the complaining, that’s about the only thing the players hate at the Bellagio.